


Your Secret's Out (And The Best Part Is It Isn't Even A Good One)

by eternaleponine



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Clexa Week 2019, F/F, Fluff, nerd/popular
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 17:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17965349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternaleponine/pseuds/eternaleponine
Summary: Clarke is a founding member of the chess club.  Lexa is student council president.  They've been dating all year... but no one knows.  Can they really take their relationship to the next level and still keep it a secret?  Do they even want to?





	Your Secret's Out (And The Best Part Is It Isn't Even A Good One)

Clarke leaned into the kiss, into the touch, into all that Lexa was, all that _they_ were, and all that they would finally become, hoping that if she just gave in to it, surrendered, it would flip the switch in her head that would turn off the little voice that said she couldn't do this. Not yet.

Because she was sick of that voice. She was sick of waiting. She wanted this, wanted to take this final step, cross this last line that they had been holding themselves back from for what felt like forever but was only a few weeks since they'd really started to feel ready, and Clarke had started making a plan.

Which, up until now, had been going perfectly. They'd gone out to dinner and a movie, and now they were at Clarke's house... alone. Her mother was at a conference and her father had gone along, thinking that Clarke was having a girls' night at Octavia's house. And yeah, maybe lying to her parents wasn't the best way to go about things, but they trusted her, and she wasn't doing anything _wrong_. There was just no way was going to have her first time with Lexa happen while her parents were downstairs watching TV, or across the hall sleeping... or not sleeping, and that thought was enough to kill _any_ mood. 

Clarke had put clean sheets on her bed and made sure the stuffed animals she couldn't quite bring herself to part with were off the bed and facing away so that wouldn't witness anything their innocent glass eyes weren't meant to see. She'd even lit a few candles, which they'd both giggled about, because yeah, it was cliché, but they also smelled nice, and it gave them just enough light to see each other by without feeling too exposed, even though soon enough they would be as exposed and vulnerable as a person could be. 

Lexa's shirt was already on the floor, and Clarke's bra was unfastened under her shirt, and they'd gotten this far before, enough times for it to not be enough anymore, which was why Lexa's fingers were creeping down from Clarke's chest to her hip, why she was popping the button of her jeans and fumbling for the pull of the zipper, inching it down, and—

"Wait."

One word, barely audible even to Clarke as it left her lips, but that was all it took. Lexa's hands were gone from Clarke's body, her lips no longer teasing along Clarke's jaw, and she'd leapt far enough away that no part of them was touching anymore. Clarke shivered at the sudden absence of her warmth and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm sorry, I—"

"Don't be," Lexa said quickly. Too quickly? "Clarke, you don't have to be sorry. If you're not ready—"

"It's not that," Clarke said. "I'm ready. I'm _more_ than ready. It's just..." She swallowed, unclenching one hand from her sleeve to slide it across the bedspread, brushing her fingertips against Lexa's. "Everything is going to change," she said softly. 

Lexa shook her head. "It won't," she said. "Whether it's tonight or next week or next year or never, nothing is going to change how I feel about you." She grimaced, like she realized how over-the-top romance novel she sounded. "I don't mean it's not a big deal. It is. I've never..."

"Ever?" Clarke asked, feeling like she should have talked about this. _Had_ they talked about this? She would remember if they had talked about this, wouldn't she? 

Lexa shook her head. 

"Oh," Clarke said. "Then..." She slid closer to Lexa, reaching for the fleece blanket draped over the end of her bed, and wrapped it around her, holding it closed with her own hands. "It _will_ change things," she said. "There's no way for it not to." 

Lexa looked away, her jaw working, the corners of her mouth twitching like she wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out... or maybe she was fighting to keep the words in. It took Clarke a second to register the hurt in her eyes, and what she must have thought Clarke was saying. 

_Shit._

"Lexa, no," Clarke said. "I don't mean... I didn't mean it would change things in a bad way. But do you remember after the first time we kissed, how suddenly it was like we were constantly looking for each other in the halls? We couldn't help ourselves. And after the first time we actually went out, how hard it was to go back to school and just..."

"Pretend we didn't even know each other," Lexa said softly. 

"Exactly!" Clarke said. "I don't want to do that anymore! I don't think – no, I _know_ I can't do this, and then just... act as if it never happened. I can't... there's no way, after tonight, that I can just go back to being nothing and no one to you when there's other people around." 

Lexa stiffened, drawing away from Clarke again, jaw clenched. "You're blaming that on me?" she asked. "You're saying it's _my_ fault?"

Clarke edged back a few inches, sucking a breath. "I'm not saying it's anyone's _fault_ ," she said, fighting to keep her tone even. "But _I'm_ not the one with a reputation to uphold, am i?"

"What _reputation_?" Lexa demanded. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"Oh, don't pretend you don't have the entire damn school wrapped around your little finger. When you say jump, people say, 'Off what bridge?'" Clarke snapped. "If you weren't making out with me, you wouldn't even know my friends and I exist!" 

"That's _bullshit_ , and you know it!" Lexa said. "The only reason I don't talk to you at school is because you made it clear you didn't want me ruining your nerd cred! How happy with you would your friends be if they thought you were getting sucked into the Borg?"

"They wouldn't—wait." Clarke's eyes narrowed. "You know what the Borg is?"

"Yes, I know what the Borg is!" Lexa said. "Seven of Nine? Pretty much required young lesbian crush material." 

Clarke snorted, trying not to laugh as her anger fizzled as quickly as it had risen. "Are you telling me that we have been hiding our relationship _all year_ because both of us thought it was what the other wanted?"

Lexa smacked the heel of her hand into her forehead. "We're a romantic comedy cliché," she groaned. "One of those really stupid ones where all of their problems could be solved by just having a simple conversation." 

Clarke slumped back against the pillows piled against her headboard, then sat up again long enough to pull Lexa down with her. "Wow," she said. "So... you really don't care if your friends know that you're dating one of the founding members of the chess club?"

Lexa shook her head. "And you don't mind your friends knowing that you're dating the president of student government, whose responsibilities include overseeing such illustrious events as Spirit Week and the Spring Fling?" 

"Not in the slightest," Clarke said, turning her head to rest her cheek on Lexa's shoulder as their hands found each other almost of their own volition and their fingers twined together. 

Lexa pressed a kiss to her temple. "What do we do then?"

"I guess we tell them," Clarke said. She slid her free hand into Lexa's hair and pulled her into a proper kiss. "Tomorrow," she added, when they had to stop to catch their breath. "As I recall, we already have plans for tonight..."

* * *

Clarke's stomach was in knots as she watched Raven and Octavia get out of Raven's car, followed by Wells. Out of their group of friends, they were the three she was closest to, and the ones that she wanted to tell first. The butterflies got worse when she saw three of Lexa's friends approaching from the opposite direction. She wanted to reach for Lexa's hand, but...

... but nothing, she realized. If she wanted to reach for Lexa's hand, she could. That was the whole point of inviting their friends to join them for brunch. They all got to the door at the same time, which led to an awkward shuffle as they tried to negotiate who would enter first without actually making eye contact or speaking. Finally Raven rolled her eyes and shoved her way through... and stopped when she saw that Clarke wasn't alone. 

They silently arranged themselves around the round table in the corner, Lexa's friends forming one half of the circle and Clarke's the other. Once the waitress had distributed menus and poured coffee for those who wanted it, all eyes were on them. 

"So, there's something we want to tell you," Clarke said. "About... us."

Six sets of eyebrows went up. "There's an 'us'?" Lexa's friend with the cheekbones – Anya – asked. 

"Yes," Lexa said. "There's an us. There has been for a while now. And we both thought the other wanted to keep it a secret, but... we were wrong. So we're telling you now." 

"Oh thank god," Octavia said. She got up and went around to the other side of the table, shoving in next to Lexa's big friend Lincoln. "I guess that means we don't have to hide the fact that we've dating since New Year's anymore."

Clarke looked at Lexa, who shook her head. She hadn't known either.

Luna pressed her lips together, fighting back a smile, but lost the battle when Raven let out a guffaw. "So we're all cool then?" Raven asked. "'Cause Luna and I may or may not have made out in the lighting booth during musical rehearsals."

"And the prop room," Luna said. 

"And the costume loft," Raven added. 

Clarke buried her face in her hands, peering out between her fingers at Wells. "Anyone else?" she asked.

Wells looked at Anya, and Anya looked back at him, and both of them pushed back like they couldn't put enough distance between themselves and the connection everyone was drawing. "Not on your life," Anya said. "No offense."

"None taken," Wells said. 

The waitress came back to take their orders, and while everyone was distracted, Lexa pressed a quick kiss to Clarke's shoulder. Clarke turned to look at her, her insides going a little gooey at her smile. "Better?" Lexa asked.

Clarke smiled and kissed her right on the lips, not caring who saw. "The best."


End file.
